Artist Statement

What will be found in this portfolio is all the pieces of work i've done for digital photography, and their reflections. There will be new techniques i learned or just pieces in which helped develop a certain skill. I am not satisfied with my portfolio especially because I missed three months of this class while I was out. I do think I tried doing my best but sometimes it just didn't work, going away for so long really brought disadvantages however, I did what I could. I really enjoyed learning new techniques in photoshop so that I can use them in the future.

I have learned a lot over the course of this school year. I got to see other peoples creative side and either enjoy it or know what not to do. I think I was most successful with all my projects in the beginning of the year because I kind of lost my motivation by the end of the year probably because of the anticipation of graduating. I struggled most with the surrealism project. I think I had great ideas but just didnt know how to piece it together correctly.

I want to learn more about photoshop in the future, and the basic skills I have now can bring me a long way. Some of my influences have come from my past experiences and what I do at home with my own camera. When I was younger I was more into taking interesting photographs now though. I saw a lot of growth and improvement in the beginning of the year. I think this class is a great way of expression and really being able to put yourself into all of the assignments.

Shutter Speed

The aperture was set to its lowest setting and it was in a dark area. The ISO was set to 400 and the shutter speed to go off in ten seconds. ISO and Aperture allow more light to enter the camera so that way the picture will come out lighter. I liked doing this assignment because it was fun and it involved group work.

Metering

The light meter is a function in the camera where wherever the camera is focused on, will be lighter then where its not. In the second picture I metered the computer so the computer was the main focus however in the first picture I metered his skin so that he was the main subject therefore the light was on him rather than the computer. Spot metering can help by making objects lighter in shadows when they have a bright back ground.

Fill In Flash Experiment

Fill in flash is when you put on the flash regardless of how much light there is. You would use this flash to flash even when the background is light because your emphasis may come out dark but when you use the flash your emphasis is clear and so is the background.

Surrealism: Untitled

The day is dark and dreary and the clouds continued to gather. I walked along the street and started to notice the sun’s immediate absence. I wanted to go to Union Square so I had to ride the subway to get there. I had to meet my friend Tammy for Red Mango to catch up on things. The sky didn’t cease to get darker and I was a bit worried. When I walked into the station the turnstiles were freezing cold and immediately I was surprised by the transformation of the platform. The platform was completely covered in water and above the trains were imminent, gloomy clouds. I had never seen this before so I tried shutting my eyes and opening them however the scene did not fade. I thought to myself I might be going insane but just ignored it and rode the train. When I got to 14th street stop, I took a look around. Everything looked normal and when I walked up to Union Square the sky was bright and sunny. Amazed at what had just happened to me, I told Tammy over Red Mango and Thai.

Surreal Practice Tutorials

We prepared for our surreal project by practicing different techniques we may want to use in our projects. In this tutorial we learned the value of layering textures using blending options to create an atmosphere with dream like qualities.

I liked the colours that we used for the tutorials and i learned the screen option which i think can be very useful for other projects.

Alternate Program: Academic Letter

I think I used my images well and the emphasis on them are clear.

I think I could have demonstrated the concept of academic letter more clearly however i'm not so sure what that would have been. If i had better images to use I think they would have presented the concept sufficiently.

I don't think I struggled too much, however just choosing the perfect font and what images to use and take out was most difficult for me.

I think I did better on the academic letter program because it appeals to me more than the graduation program.

Graduation Program

I think my composition is strong and the use of colours overall represents our school clearly however ceases from becoming overbearing and redundant.

I think I could have used more visual creativity and added more strong technical graphics just to make the program more appealing and attractive to people of my generation.

I thought it was pretty easy, i think trying to look it the most appealing is difficult and you wonder what other people are doing because they may be doing something strong that i haven't incorporated with my work.

I think the most important aspects of graphic design is composition and use of the images and colours. Everything must be easy to read and easy on the eyes and overall appealing to the general audience.

I think most students tend to use the pegasus more dramatically than needed and the repetitive use of dramatic purple and gross fonts.

The Scream: My Interpretation

The man was sleeping in his petite house out in the middle of nowhere. His neighbors were over five miles away and it was late at night. He woke up to a disturbing noise he heard that was coming from across the bridge his grandfather built. He slowly woke up and cautiously stumbled outside of his house and began searching for this noise. This noise was a screechy and irritable noise, but one he has never heard before. Hands in pocket he skipped a little closer and closer to the old and rickety bridge. As slow as he tip toed, each step he took the bridge squeaked with the weight of his feet. Across the bridge lay bushes and large trees in which he never ventured out to often. A shadow passed across his peripherals and he quickly turned his head at the source, with no luck his heart began to pound and his breathing was short and quick. Still hearing the sound which was getting louder and more frightening he discreetly moved his body to the left and screamed at the sight of the source…

Creative Me

This project was an opportunity for us to put the tools we have learned to use. We were to take one of our portraits, and change it creatively using the following: selection tools, layers, adjustment layers, layer styles, blending options, paint brushes and opacity.

I liked the pattern overlay about my picture, I also liked the outer glow of the ground and the colours of my shirt. I like a lot of them but I do use the magnetic lasso the most, and than fix it up by entering the quick mask. I feel confident about my knowledge in photoshop so far, the things that i've learned will be remembered for future assignments.

Adjustment Layers

In this exercise we learned about Adjustment layers. Adjustment layers allow you to add adjustments to your image on separate layers instead of directly to the image itself. This comes in handy during long complicated projects. In Photoshop every tool is specifically designed to help improve your photo. However, here we took some artistic liberties and explored adjustments creatively.

Self Portraits

For our Self-Portrait project we were to take three self-portraits. They were all to be in black and white, and they were all to capture a mood of some sort. We were also challenged to be as artistic as possible, and stay as far away from normal, cliche portraits that we see on personal pages etc. as possible.One had to use the rule of thirds as the base for the composition; One had to incorporate leading lines, and one had to be taken from a more extreme angle.

I liked the idea of this project but there were difficulties following the excitement for it. I liked a lot of my ideas for each photo but sometimes my idea couldn't be captured right. Sometimes i felt like i could be the photographer because my idea would be captured exactly how i wanted it, it was difficult guiding my partner so much because my vision was so unlike how some of the photos turned out, though i think i helped him improve shooting pictures. I liked my leading lines photo the best. All i did was set the camera where I wanted it, and my partner shot it. I do think it could have been better, I think i should have been closer and my face more visible. It was a bit windy at the time and my hair was down unfortunately...Overall I felt i did mediocre, but hopefully my photos will come out as amazing as i envision them.

Contact Sheet

I am happy the way my contact sheet turned out. I think my neatness and how precise the photos are put together are my strong points. I like to be clean and articulate of my work and that is what i portrayed. I think i could have added more colour, i just didn't know what colour would go right with purple and where to put it.

Of all the compositional tricks, I believe my macro pictures turned out the best. I also enjoyed shooting macro pictures the most as well. I think it is simple yet the outcome is beautiful.

Compositional Trick #5: Cropping

Cropping is a trick that photographers do all the time, even if they don't realize it. Every time a photographer chooses to cut something out of his/her frame, before they snap the photo, that is in essence cropping. We also have learned tools on Photoshop that allow us to crop an image after we have taken it. When cropping in Photoshop it is possible to improve our composition or change it completley.

Cropping changed the compostion of my photo because I cropped out a lot of empty space, too much empty space can sometimes make a photo seem dull or boring. I liked the cropped picture better than the original because of the empty space I cropped out. The first thing I did was crop out the empty space, and than I made white borders and put in my name for the assignment.

Compositional Trick #4: Extreme Angles

The way I approached getting an extreme angle, I made my subject sit on the far left of the staircase while I was on my far right. I was a few steps below him and shot the photo with this angle.

I like the way the stairs look, the closer the stairs were to me the larger they appeared and the further they were appeared smaller.

I think my angle could have been more extreme if I were closer to my subject and angled my camera upwards.

Photographing with extreme angles can make a photo more interesting. The view is one that we don't usually see with our eyes, it comes from a different perspective.

Compositional Trick #3: Macro

The macro function on the camera enables your lens to focus onto an object that appears small in reality but through the lens appears enlarged and in focus.

Depth of field is the amount of background that the camera can focus on. A small depth of field is what usually macro has, the background will appear blurry the further your lens is from the emphasis being shot. A large depth of field is able to focus on a further background with the emphasis in focus as well.

Macro would be the compositional trick of choice when there is a small emphasis where you would want to stand out in the photo. It brings out the texture and shows detail that the human eye usually doesn't catch.

I like my texture photo because it shows detail that most people wouldn't care to look at. The way the circles are arranged are perfect and interesting as a pattern. The macro enhanced this photo because the texture is in focus and shows intricate detail.

Compositional Trick #2: Leading Lines

Leading lines guide the viewer's eye to travel throughout the whole photograph. Sometimes leading lines lead straight to the main point of the picture, or the emphasis, while other lines just lead you around and throughout the photo. Leading lines that are effective intentionally lead the eyes through the pictures without any distractions. Ineffective leading lines can lead away from the emphasis, which is not the trick that leading lines is for.

In my photograph the gate with lines lead you to the emphasis of the picture which is the Restrooms sign.

Compositional Trick #1 Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a grid where you compose where the emphasis of the picture is. There are two vertical lines and two horizontal lines equally far apart from eachother, where the lines meet are the points where your emphasis should be.